Friday, May 11, 2012

Nail art is becoming more and more artistic with creative and innovative techniques popping up all the time.

One trend about to take the beauty world by storm is the simple to do, but oh so effective newspaper print nails. Here's a step by step guide as to how to achieve this funky look, with a picture of my nails to show you what the finished product looks like.

For this look you will need:

A pale basecoat, a small amount of vodka/rubbing alcohol 10 strips of newspaper cotton buds A clear topcoat.

So:

1. Apply two coats of your pale basecoat and leave to dry thoroughly. The lighter the color the better for this look as it helps the newspaper print to show up better. Go for either a pale pink/white or grey depending on how much you want the nail to stand out.

2. Put a little vodka into a bowl or a lid. Dip a finger into the vodka for about 10-15 seconds.

3. As soon as you remove it, lay a strip of newspaper, words facing down.

4. Press firmly and rock your finger over the strip of newspaper for 15-20 seconds.

5. Lightly peel back the newspaper and the words will be left on the nail.

6. Repeat this process for all the nails and leave to settle for 2-3 minutes before touching anything or moving around.

7. When the ink has dried sligthtly, apply a LIGHT top coat to the nail. Try to make this as thin as possible so as to avoid it running with the ink. If you do it lightly, then it will stay in place.

8. Once this has dried, go on to do a second coat, this time a little more liberal. This will protect the design and add shine to the finish.

9. When your nails are protected, go around the nail with nail polish remover and a cotton bud to clean away the print.

10. Wash your hands in warm, soapy water to clean the hand thoroughly

There you have it, take a look at mine done with exactly the same process.

Apparently, using filtered water in place of the vodka/alcohol is an option for those with irratable skin or brittle nails.

The print may be a little lighter, so you may have to press down a little longer with the print to achieve a darker tone. Keep practising until you have a look you're happy with.